CHAPTER X
Chase bent down in front of her and took the cup to her lips. “Drink,”Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
Sophia nodded, opened her mouth, and gulped down the whole glass of water. When the whole glass of water was emptied down her throat and he pulled the cup away, she gave him a small smile. “Thanks,”
Chase resisted the urge to scoff at her. What was there to smile at for given water? He ignored her and passed the cup to the man behind him who bowed again and left them alone. “Are you ready for our game?”
Sophia hesitated before nodding her head. When she remembered how he’d reacted towards her when she only nodded, she opened her mouth to speak. “Y-yes,”
“Good,” He began to untie the ropes on her wrist, then moved to the ones on her legs before standing up. “Stand up,”
Sophia obeyed him without any word. “Thank you,”
Chase passed his hand towards the man standing by the door side, who dropped a small wristwatch and a listening device on his palm. He turned to Sophia and grabbed one of her hands, ignoring the whimper that escaped her lips, before strapping the wristwatch around her bruised wrist and helping her put the listening device on one of her ears. “I want you to run away from here. You have only five minutes to do that,”
Sophia frowned. “Is that even a game? “She almost laughed but bit her lip when she saw that he didn’t look amused.
“Maybe after the game, you’ll question your capabilities in sport rather than the game.” He switched on a timer on both their wrist watches and the loud-sounding sound of a clock ticking resounded through the room. “Go,”
“Y-your-those huge men. They’ll catch me”, She said. “I’m scared,”
Chase shoved her towards the door. “There’s no fun without risks, Gattina. No worries, no one will try to stop or catch you because they know of our little game.” He looked at his wristwatch. “One minute is gone, and you only have four more minutes left for you. I’ll wait here till those four minutes are over before coming after you. Save yourself, or you’ll be mine here. You’ll be trapped with me forever if you waste any time. Go,”
{“Kitten”}
Sophia clutched the locket around her neck that had the photograph of her parents and herself when she was a baby. “T-thanks. I’ll go, “She turned and ran away towards the front door, and true to his words, no one was there to even try and stop her.
~~~
Sophia looked around the whole big, dark, and silent estate. The only sounds she could hear were the ones of the cold breeze blowing away and the ticking sound of the wristwatch strapped around her wrist, then that of her wildly beating heart.
She sneaked a glance at the light, illuminating from the wristwatch to see the time when Chase’s voice boomed through her ears from the hearing device. “Two minutes thirty-two seconds, Gattina. You have less than two minutes, and you’re nowhere close to leaving my estate,”
{“Kitten”}
Sophia’s panicked eyes searched for any sign of anybody watching her to maybe report to Chase but found no one.
She placed her hand on her chest and said a silent prayer in her heart. That was her only chance of escape, and if she didn’t do it, she didn’t even know what Chase would use her to do as his’. As she thought of that, her eyes stopped at an old building not far away from where she stood, and a small smile graced her lips.
She surely wouldn’t be able to leave the estate in less than two minutes. She knew that, so the best thing to do was to hide in the old house till morning while Chase would hopelessly search for her. Then, once she was sure he gave up, she’d find her way out of the estate in the morning.
With her perfect plan in mind, she ran towards there, hissing in pain and ignoring the pain in her ankle. She froze again in her tracks when she heard Chase’s voice again. “Here I come, Gattina. Your time is up. I hope you’re safely hidden away from me?”
{“Kitten”}
Sophia nodded her head and then spoke up when she realized he wouldn’t be able to see her. “Yes. I-I’m gone,”
“Good. My turn now,” Chase’s voice came again until she heard the loud and slow sounds of his footsteps as if he had all the time in the world to reach her.
Sophia ran towards the door and tried to open it but it wasn’t opening it. She looked around frantically for another hiding place until she spotted the tree in front of the house and hid behind it.
“Gattina, where are you? “Chase’s voice reached her ears as she heard his footsteps. It wasn’t only from the hearing device. She could hear his footsteps coming closer to the tree and she pressed herself tightly against the tree as if to disappear into it. “You aren’t making the game any interesting now”, Chase said, standing behind the tree from the other side.
{“Kitten”}
Sophia fisted her hands into a ball and bit down on her lower lip to hold her breath. She couldn’t afford to have him find her. If Chase found her, she’d be a goner. She wouldn’t see her Nana ever again and she didn’t even want to imagine the type of things he’d do with her.
Chase resisted the urge to just stretch his hands out behind the tree and drag her to his side to finally claim her as his property. He knew damned well she was behind the tree. He could feel her presence very well but he wanted to keep on leaving her belt-and-braces.
He was psychotic. Chase knew that very well and that was why he wanted to keep on continuing his mind games with her because, in the end, he would emerge as the winner. “Gattina, I can’t find you. Can you come out?”,
{“Kitten”}
Sophia breathed out in relief as she watched him walk away from the tree and she tiptoed on her bare legs to hide behind the pillar standing on the porch of the house. She peeked and her breath hitched again when she saw him walking towards the pillar where she was already hiding and she quickly ducked herself away.
“Lord please help me” ” she whispered only to her hearing and clutched unto her locket with closed eyes. “Lord, please help me. Mama, papa, don’t let him catch-“,
Sophia didn’t finish her prayer when she heard Chase’s voice close to her. “Found ya!”,